Relentless Pursuit (4 page)

Tammy smacked his arm. “She’s just flaunting herself in front of the media. She doesn’t care how Pierce is doing. If she did, then she’d be over here asking about him, not flirting with Detective Cowell.”

Henry looked back down at his laptop. “How many news outlets are here?”

“All the local and a couple from Louisville. About six in all. Were you expecting them?”

“Yup. Been working on my statement since we got here. I talked to one of my buddies who practices here in Lexington and he told me Cowell was gunning for a promotion to sergeant. A man with his eye on promotion wouldn’t miss the opportunity to be in front of the cameras. I also have some statements prepared for Pierce’s family.” 

Tammy shot to her feet when the door to the exam rooms opened and Pierce came out, handcuffed, with officers on both sides. Tammy had a hard time not racing to him. His eye was completely swollen shut and turning a very nasty dark blue. He had a huge bandage wrapped around his head and looked to be grimacing as the officers pushed him along.  Before Tammy had the chance to get to him, Detective Cowell was by his side and forcefully yanking him toward the sea of media lights.

“That will be enough, Detective! If you don’t release my client at once, I'll have you before the judge this morning on police brutality charges. And I don’t think that will play too well in front of the media,” Henry threatened. He stood tall and aggressively marched over to the officers. It was enough to scare the officers back as Henry took one of Pierce’s arms and nodded for Tammy to take the other.

“We’ll take it from here, gentlemen. Just clear a path, please,” Tammy said in her most polite, yet authoritative voice.

“Oh, Pierce!” Jasmine hurled herself onto Pierce the second he came within sight of the news crews with their cameras pressed against the glass. “I was so worried about you!” A well-placed tear trickled down her cheek as she dramatically looked toward the cameras.

“Thanks, Jasmine, but you’re hurting me. I have some injuries to my ribs and stomach, so I’d appreciate it if you let go of me.” Pierce said through shallow breaths.

Jasmine narrowed her eyes and looked from him to Detective Cowell and out to the media. “This nice young detective told me you murdered someone. Of course, I'm fully cooperating with the investigation.” With one last glance showing that Pierce was no longer up to snuff, she flounced her way over to Detective Cowell who put a protective arm around a softly crying Jasmine.

“Don’t worry about her, Pierce,” Henry whispered. “Focus on getting to that cop car. Keep your head high, but don’t smile. You want to look sure of your innocence, but also respectful of the fact Dr. Oldham lost his life."

Pierce just nodded and Tammy felt her heart break for him. She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. “Okay, let’s do this.”

The officers pushed open the door and they walked out of the hospital and into the bright lights of the cameras. Microphones were shoved in their faces, questions were shouted, and between all of that noise, Tammy could hear the tiny sniffles coming from Jasmine a little way behind them. Oh, what Tammy wouldn’t give to plant her fist right in the middle of Jasmine’s perfect face.

“Mr. Davies, why did you kill your professor?”

“Was it self-defense?”

“Mr. Davies, are you afraid you’ll get the death penalty?”

The reporters shot questions at them faster than bullets. Tammy was being shoved in every direction as reporters tried to get microphones and cameras in Pierce’s face. She turned her body inward and shielded Pierce from the media attack with her back. Contrarily, Detective Cowell wouldn’t shut up behind them.

Finally they reached the prisoner transport. She felt as if she had fought a battle, but at least he was safe.

“Thank you, Tammy, Henry,” Pierce said from the back of the cruiser.

“You’re welcome,” Tammy almost cried. Pierce sounded so defeated, so broken.

“I’m going with you.” Henry slid into the car next to Pierce. “I’ll see you processed into jail and then head back to the office to work on your case. We’ll talk more about it in the car. Tammy, I’ve emailed you my notes. Will you please go fill Mr. and Mrs. Davies in on the situation.”

“Tammy, could you tell my family I’m sorry. Just, just take care of them for me, okay?” Pierce turned his head away from her and looked out the window as the door was closed before Tammy could respond.

“Without a doubt in my mind, Mr. Davies is guilty and I’ll be happily proving that after his arraignment.” Tammy turned and saw Detective Cowell standing in front of the news cameras with a sure and slightly cocky look on his face.

“We’ll see about that,” Tammy murmured under her breath as she made her way to the car. If there were anything she could do to prove that Pierce was innocent, then she’d do it.

Before Tammy stopped her car in front of the large white farmhouse, the door was flung open and Mrs. Davies hurried out onto the veranda and down the stairs. The entire population of the house was outside by the time Tammy opened the car door. She had never felt so many eyes on her at once.

“Tammy, how’s my boy? Marshall said I should stay here and let Henry handle the hospital and then I saw the news and they’re calling him a murderer! My baby, a murderer!” Mrs. Davies tried to stop the tears from streaming down her face.

The look in her eyes caused Tammy to take a big gulp. She had to tell them, all of them, that the evidence wasn’t in his favor and she wasn’t quite sure how to do that.

Mr. Davies walked down the steps and put his arm around his wife. “Come inside and tell us what you know and tell us what we can do. There has to be something we can do,” Mr. Davies pleaded. His normally tall, strong frame was bent and defeated. He suddenly looked older and with a gentle hand turned his wife toward the house.

Tammy walked up the stairs behind them and nodded as she passed what had to be the whole town. All of the Davieses’ friends were in the living room, and, of course, Miss Lily and John Wolfe jockeyed for the first pieces of information as to how Pierce was doing. Tammy gulped and Mrs. Davies took her hand and led her to the living room.

“Please, just tell us what’s going on. We’re all listening.” At Mrs. Davies’s soft tone, the room quieted and leaned toward Tammy.

“Well, he has a bruised rib and other bruises on his abdomen. His eye is swollen shut, but luckily the eye and eye socket aren't broken. The worst part is he has an injury to the back of his head that is causing memory loss.” The group gasped and whispers started.

“Memory loss?” Mr. Davies asked.

“That’s right. He doesn’t remember anything about what happened. He remembers the wedding, but nothing until the police busted into his house. Dr. Francis,” Tammy nodded her thanks to Deputy Noodle who was standing in the back of the room, “thinks there's a chance his memories will come back as the swelling goes down.”

“Oh Lordy,” Miss Lily Rose gasped as her hand toyed with the lace collar on her flower print dress. “I know Pierce couldn’t have done such a thing, but all this evidence against him! What are we to do?”

“DNA evidence will be back in around ten days. Until then, I don’t know. It’s so hard to even know where to start when he doesn’t remember. Henry is working on the case now. The arraignment will be Monday morning, and the prosecutor from Lexington will surely make a third-party motion asking Judge Cooper to move the case to Lexington given Kenna’s relationship with the Davies family. Then there’s the media. We need someone from the Davies family, or close to it, to be the spokesperson.”

Kenna cleared her throat and stepped forward. “I can’t help with the spokesperson part, but I can call the prosecutor and see if we can work something out. I’ll let you know what we can agree on,” Kenna said as she pulled out her cell phone and walked outside.

“I know I’m new to the family…” Morgan paused and then shrugged, “
very
new. But I have a lot of experience with wordplay during negotiations and if you think about it, it’s just a word game with the media. One big negotiation with them trying to make you say more than you want.”

“I think that’s a great idea, honey.” Miles wrapped his arm around his new wife and Tammy couldn’t help but smile at his show of support.

“Thanks, Morgan. I think you all will want to come up with a short statement to release to the media when you think it’s time. Also, Henry wanted you to come up with some standard, short, one- to two-sentence responses for when the media calls or shows up looking for a quote.” Tammy looked out the window and saw the sun streaming in. She’d better get to the office and see what she could do to help Henry.

The room was now full of voices as Marcy, the sweet and gentle mother of the Davies kids, moved with the family to the dining room to talk about how to handle the media. Her husband, Jake, wrapped his arm around her in a gesture of complete support. Tammy envied the relationship they shared. Six children and two grandchildren later, Jake still treated Marcy with such love and tenderness of newlyweds.

Miss Lily and John Wolfe were arguing over the gossip they had heard. Ever since the kiss heard round Keeneston, they had been at each other constantly, each trying to outdo the other and be the first to get the scoop in an epic battle of gossips. Miss Lily’s white head and John’s portly stature were locked in battle against the far wall. No one knew how John got the scoop on just about anything going on in town. Some say it was wiretaps, but Tammy guessed it was aliens. Miss Lily Rae Rose ran the bed and breakfast in town and spent most of her time with her sisters, Daisy Mae and Violet Fae Rose. That’s how she got her gossip. Miss Daisy’s and Miss Violet’s Blossom Café was the heart of the town.

Tammy felt the exhaustion hit her as the adrenaline of the night started to wear off. She gathered her things and said her good-byes.  It didn’t take long for her to arrive at the law office on Main Street. As she unlocked the door, she looked through the big window and into the lobby. The lights were still off, but it seemed as if she was coming home. She’d been working here since she was seventeen. Nine years. She couldn’t believe it.

It took that long just to get Henry to agree to some more feminine touches in the place. She had tried for years, but after Kenna and Dani started sharing office space, she had the power necessary to push, force, and just not tell Henry of the changes they wanted to make. The main thing being that they got rid of some of the old pictures and put up artwork by local artists along with some lighter-colored furniture and real plants that softened the place. She could see the light coming from Henry’s office when she walked into the lobby.

“Tammy? Is that you?” Henry called from behind his desk.

“Yes. Is there any news?” she asked as she hurried into his office.

“Nothing yet. I just need to go meet with Pierce to discuss his arraignment and bond hearing tomorrow. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?” Henry asked as he stuffed a bunch of papers into his briefcase.

“Yes. I will. He must be so worried. Do you think he’ll be able to post bail tomorrow?” Tammy thought to the three hundred and some dollars she had in her savings account and wondered if she should withdraw it in case he needed it.

“I think he will. But, we have to fight over the venue and prosecutor. I’m filing a motion for a special prosecutor to be appointed from out of town. Kenna called and said that she was planning on doing the same. But, I need to prepare him for both options. Ready?”

“Let’s go.” Tammy walked out the back door and over to Henry’s car. If only she knew what to say to make it better.

CHAPTER FOUR

Pierce sat at the table in the jail's common room and watched the morning news. His jaw tightened as Jasmine tearfully accepted the tissue from a local reporter. She dabbed her eyes and took a shuddering breath before saying how horrible she felt for the family of Dr. Oldham. She had no idea her boyfriend could be so cruel.

Pierce leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest. What could he say? Nothing. He was locked in jail as this woman, for lack of a better word, told the reporter that they were no longer dating. She could never date a murderer. The reporter gave Jasmine’s shoulder a supportive squeeze and then sent the camera to another reporter sitting in Dr. Oldham’s living room.

Pierce leaned forward in the hard plastic chair as the camera zoomed in on the tired face of Mrs. Oldham. She had bags under her eyes and tears slowly trickled down her slightly wrinkled cheeks. Her salt-and-pepper hair was styled in a short pixie cut that didn’t allow any emotion to be hidden as she told the reporter how wonderful her husband was and that she “hoped Pierce Davies gets what he deserves.”

Sitting next to Mrs. Oldham was Dr. Oldham’s teaching assistant, Aiden Fink. Aiden was the T.A. during the last year of Pierce’s master’s program. He was a good enough guy who was working toward his Ph.D. Pierce knew that Aiden and the Oldhams spent a lot of time together since Aiden’s family was all in Utah.  He was a big-time skier. The round glasses and bow tie hid that fact, though.

Aiden nodded. His thinning hair fell to cover his eyes as he grimaced at the reporter’s question about Pierce and Dr. Oldham’s relationship. Aiden told of Pierce’s good grades and that Dr. Oldham and Pierce often worked together late into the night.

A sinking feeling settled in the bottom of his stomach. His mentor’s wife, someone he had had countless dinners with, thought he could murder his own friend. Aiden was noncommittal on his answer but was definitely not supporting him either. It was bad enough Jasmine thought it, but it was clear she was just in for the attention. The sinking feeling plummeted ever more. He was going to spend the rest of his life in jail.

“Davies! Your attorney is here.” The guard escorted Pierce into the meeting room and locked the door behind him.

“Henry! Tammy! I'm so glad to see you two. How are my parents?” Pierce worried as he took a seat at the metal table.

“They’re fine. Your parents love you very much. And Morgan is going to handle the media for them,” Tammy told him as she took a seat next to Henry.